Rudolf Steiner Quotes

A dissident's collection of Quotes from the creator of Waldorf-Schools and Anthroposophy, on subjects that are seldom brought to the general public.

A few words on this blog

This is my collection of thought-provoking quotes of parts of Steiner's work that, for example, I believe many waldorf-pupil parents willnever get to see. I will try to make the context of the original text easily accessible where possible, so please check out the sources to form your own opinions.

Friday, 24 April 2009

I have gone through and tried to make the posts more readable by adding illustrations and trying to make the text clearer by changing colours. I know how difficult it can be to read Steiner's work, and especially while trying to make sense of it so I hope it can help. /Lee

"Thus the Atlanteans could control what one calls the life force. As today one extracts the energy of heat from coal and transforms it into motive power for our means of locomotion, the Atlanteans knew how to put the germinal energy of organisms into the service of their technology. One can form an idea of this from the following. Think of a kernel of seed-grain. In this an energy lies dormant. This energy causes the stalk to sprout from the kernel. Nature can awaken this energy which reposes in the seed. Modern man cannot do it at will. He must bury the seed in the ground and leave the awakening to the forces of nature. The Atlantean could do something else. He knew how one can change the energy of a pile of grain into technical power, just as modern man can change the heat energy of a pile of coal into such power. Plants were cultivated in the Atlantean period not merely for use as foodstuffs but also in order to make the energies dormant in them available to commerce and industry. Just as we have mechanisms for transforming the energy dormant in coal into energy of motion in our locomotives, so the Atlanteans had mechanisms in which they — so to speak — burned plant seeds, and in which the life force was transformed into technically utilizable power. The vehicles of the Atlanteans, which floated a short distance above the ground travelled at a height lower than that of the mountain ranges of the Atlantean period, and they had steering mechanisms by the aid of which they could rise above these mountain ranges."Steiner, R. (1904; GA11). Chapter iii: Our Atlantean Ancestors (link), in: Cosmic Memory: Prehistory of Earth and Man.

Tuesday, 26 June 2007

"And if the leaves stay green — the greener they are, the more fats they have in them. So when someone eats bread, for instance, he can't take in many fats from the bread. He takes in more, for example, from watercress — that tiny plant with the very tiny leaves — more fats than when he eats bread. ...

... And in this case, because these substances are destroyed in the intestines and only their forces proceed to work, cooking is not so necessary. That's why leaves can be eaten raw as salad. Whatever is to work on the head cannot be eaten raw; it must be cooked. Cooked foods work particularly on the head. Lettuce and similar things work particularly on heart and lungs, building them up, nourishing them through the fats."Steiner, R. (1924; GA0354).Lecture I (link), in the series of lectures:Nutrition and Health.

"And so, gentlemen, if — for instance — a child is becoming weak in his head — inattentive, hyperactive — he will usually have a corresponding symptom:

worms in his intestines. Worms develop easily in the intestines if the head forces are too weak, because the head does not then work down strongly enough into the rest of the body. ... And if one's child has worms, one should realize the child has become weak in his head. Also — whoever wants to be a teacher has to know these things — if there are persons who at a later age are weak-minded, one can be sure they have had worms when they were young.

And so what must one do if one observes this in the child? The simplest remedy is to give him carrots to eat for a while — with his other food, of course; ... They have the forces of the earth in them, and when they are taken into the stomach, they are able to work up through the blood into the head."Steiner, R. (1924; GA0354).Lecture I (link), in the series of lectures:Nutrition and Health.

"There now follows an important cosmic event. The sun is extruded. Thereby certain forces simply leave the earth. These forces are composed of a part of what hitherto had existed on earth in the life ether and in the chemical and light ether. These forces, so to speak, were withdrawn from the earth. A radical change thereby took place among groups of terrestrial beings which previously had contained these forces within themselves. They all suffered a transformation. Those which have been called plant beings above, first suffered such a transformation. A part of their light ether forces was taken from them. They could then develop as organisms only when the force of light, which had been withdrawn from them, acted upon them from the outside. Thus the plants came under the influence of the sunlight."Steiner, R. (1904; GA11).Chapter ix: Beginning of the Present Earth — Extrusion of the Sun (link), in:Cosmic Memory: Prehistory of Earth and Man.What real science shows:How a solar system such as ours is created

Tuesday, 5 June 2007

"I met a hydrocephalic child who was different in many respects from the rest of his family. Why was he a hydrocephalic? Because the council of higher powers together with Lucifer had decreed that that particular individuality should be born in a particular place and his parents were the best available for him. But he was unable to work rightly into the ancestral line so he could create what would result in the appropriate substance in order that his head might harden in the right way. Only during his lifetime would he be able to adapt his brain to its general structure. Such an individuality did not find the right conditions enabling him to influence his ancestry so that his head could harden in the appropriate way."Steiner, R. (1913; GA0140). Lecture XV: Intercourse With the Dead (link), in the series of lectures:Life Between Death and Rebirth

Monday, 4 June 2007

"As the physical body does not at once bear the brunt of these irregularities, the first symptoms appear on the functional side, in the etheric body (Archaeus). If we wish to find a current term to designate certain aspects of this irregular function, we must call it Hysteria. We shall use the term Hysteria for the too great autonomy of the processes of Metabolism; and we shall learn later on that the name is not inappropriate.

Specific manifestations of hysteria in its narrower sense are nothing but this irregular metabolism raised to its culmination.

In essence, the hysterical process, even in it's sexual symptoms, consists of metabolic irregularities, which are external processes having no rightful place in the human body. That is, they are processes which the upper sphere has been too weak to master and control." Steiner, R. (1920; GA0312). Lecture II (link), in the series of lectures:Spiritual Science and Medicine.

"..: all the processes of the lower sphere have their “negative” so to speak, their negative counter-image in the upper. The important point, however, is that there is no material connection between these upper and lower spheres, but a correspondence. The correspondence must be correctly apprehended. without search for or insistence on direct material connection.

Let us take a very simple example: the tickling irritation which causes coughing, and the actual cough itself. In so far as they belong to the upper sphere their complementary counterpart in the lower sphere is diarrhœa. There is always a counterpart to every such activity. And the key to the understanding of man consists in the correct apprehension of these correspondences with several of which we shall deal in the course of our study." Steiner, R. (1920; GA0312). Lecture II (link), in the series of lectures:Spiritual Science and Medicine.

"All that can be observed in the heart must be looked upon as an effect, not a cause, as a mechanical effect [Lee: i.e. the pulsation of the blood moves the heart], to begin with. The only hopeful investigations on these lines, so far, have been those of Dr. Karl Schmidt, an Austrian medical man, practising in North Styria, who published a contribution to the Wiener Medizinische Wochenschrift (1892, No. 15), “The heart action and Curve of the Pulse.” The content of this article is comparatively small, but it proves that his medical practice had enlightened the author on the fact that the heart in no way resembled the ordinary pump but rather must be considered a dam-like organ. Schmidt compares cardiac action to that of the hydraulic ram, set in motion by the currents. This is the kernel of truth in his work."Steiner, R. (1920; GA0312).Lecture II (link), in the series of lectures:Spiritual Science and Medicine.

Monday, 12 February 2007

"Thus man could use a portion of the energy which previously he employed for the production of beings like himself, in order to perfect his own nature.

The force by which mankind forms a thinking brain for itself is the same by which man impregnated himself in ancient times. The price of thought is single-sexedness. By no longer impregnating themselves, but rather by impregnating each other, human beings can turn a part of their productive energy within, and so become thinking creatures. ...

... In this way man has become a spiritual being of the kind which he is now. But one must not suppose that no beings which possessed cognition had been in contact with the earth before then.

When one follows the Akasha Chronicle it does indeed appear that in the first Lemurian period, later physical man, because of his double sex, was a totally different being from that which one today designates as man. He could not connect any sensory perceptions with thoughts; he did not think. His life was one of impulses. His soul expressed itself only in instincts, in appetites, in animal desires and so on. His consciousness was dreamlike; he lived in dullness." Steiner, R. (1904; GA11).Chapter vi: The Division into Sexes (link), in:Cosmic Memory: Prehistory of Earth and Man.

"The potato takes little care of lung and heart. It reaches the head, but only, as I said, the lower head, not the upper head. It does go into the lower head, where one thinks and exercises critical faculties. Therefore, you can see, in earlier times there were fewer journalists. There was no printing industry yet. Think of the amount of thought expended daily in this world in our time, just to bring the newspapers out! All that thinking, it is much too much, it is not at all necessary — and we have to thank the potato diet for that! Because a person who eats potatoes is constantly stimulated to think. He can't do anything but think. That's why his lungs and his heart become weak. Tuberculosis, lung tuberculosis, did not become widespread until the potato diet was introduced. And the weakest human beings are those living in regions where almost nothing else is grown but potatoes, where the people live on potatoes." Steiner, R. (1924; GA0354).Lecture II (link), in the series of lectures: Nutrition and Health.

"I had often wondered about the purpose of Kosher rules for the Jewish handling of food. This is the first description I have read of why and it makes a lot of sense to me.

"[page 47, 48] The [Jewish] race has a tendency towards diabetes. Jews have a certain difficulty in assimilating sugar, on the other hand they need it. Therefore the Jewish diet should be such that it helps the body as much as possible to make use of sugar and not excrete it right away. . . . Above all the eating of pork was forbidden in order to prevent diabetes,

since pig meat makes the proper utilisation of sugar particularly difficult for man. . . . Even the Jewish method of slaughter, for instance the way of killing poultry or other animals, is calculated to leave the correct amount of blood in the meat which the Jew eats, for the proper utilisation of sugar.""

B. Matherne's citation of Steiner is referenced to: "Nutrition and Stimulants; Lectures and Extracts by Rudolf Steiner. Compiled and Translated by K. Castelliz and B. Saunders-Davies. Published by Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Assoc/PA in 1991."rsarchives info.

"The nerve system is the only system that has no connection whatever with soul and spirit. Blood, muscles, and so on always have a direct connection with soul and spirit. ... That is the peculiar thing about it. In psychology and physiology you find the following put forward; the organ that acts as a medium for sensation, thinking and the whole soul and spirit element, is the nerve system. But how does it come to be this medium? Only by continually expelling itself from life [Lee: "continually dying out"], so that it does not offer any obstacles to thinking and sensation, forms no connections with thinking and sensation, and in that place where it is it leaves the human being “empty” in favour of the soul and spirit, Actually there are hollow spaces for the spirit and soul where the nerves are. Therefore spirit and soul can enter in where these hollow spaces are." Steiner, R. (1919; GA0293).Lecture VII (link), of the series of lectures: The Study of Man.

Tuesday, 6 February 2007

"“These things may even lead to an understanding of something that can also be observed externally. In countries where, according to statistics, sugar consumption is low, the inhabitants have a less defined personality than in countries where consumption is high. If you visit countries where the people show more individuality, where each individual is self-contained, and then move on to countries where the inhabitants betray more the typical racial characteristics, show less individuality in their outward appearance, you will find that in the former countries sugar consumption is high, in the latter very low." (26, pp. 24-27") " Steiner, R. (21 Mar. 1913; GA?). From:FOUNDATIONS AT THE PERIPHERY: RUDOLF STEINER'S OBSERVATIONS ON STAR KNOWLEDGE, under 21 Mar. 1913.

"Man is in this way seized by the forces which, coming out of the earth, determine him; so that, if we picture these several points, we get a remarkable line. This line still holds good for our epoch. The spot in Africa corresponds to those forces of the earth which imprint upon man the characteristics of early childhood. The spot in Asia corresponds to those which give man the characteristics of youth, and the ripest characteristics are imprinted on man by the corresponding spot in Europe. This is simply a law. As all persons in their different incarnations pass through the various races, therefore, although it may be argued that the European has the advantage over the black and the yellow races, we should not be prejudiced thereby."Steiner, R. (1910; GA0121). Lecture 4 (link), in the series of lectures: The Mission of Folk-Souls.

"We know that in Palestine, at the time which concerns us, not one but two Jesus-children were born, one of them from the Solomon line of the House of David. This is the Jesus child of whom the Matthew Gospel speaks. The peculiar contradiction between the beginnings of the Matthew and the Luke Gospels derives from the fact that the writer of the Matthew Gospel was concerned with one of the Jesus-children, the one born from the Solomon line. Then, at almost but not quite the same time, another Jesus-child was born, from the Nathan line of the House of David." Steiner, R. (1911; GA0131). Lecture VIII(link), of the series of lectures: From Jesus to Christ.

Monday, 5 February 2007

"Thus preparation for the Messiah of the Fourth Subrace is made in concealment, removed from Judaism, in Galilee. Judaism had never had a strong footing in Galilee, had never really penetrated there. The racial character of the Galileans was very mixed. (See note 3.) He (the Messiah) must have nothing of the Galilean element in him. He must come from a hidden source. Hence the Apocryphal writings allege that he was a “mothers child.” (See note 4.) This was Jesus of Nazareth, the Galilean. He was a Chela of the third degree of Initiation. It was now a matter of making him into the highest Initiate for all that was to be fulfilled on the physical plane. This was achieved through the whole personality being taken possession of by another Being, the Christ, who represents the whole Fifth Root Race. The whole Fifth Root Race emerged in the Fourth Subrace. This is represented symbolically by the descent of the Dove. Only the most sublime imagery could be used to express the truths which apply here."Steiner, R. (1904; GA?). Lecture: The Migrations of the Races link. (link to diagrams over racial evolution)

"... He[Lee: The Germanic-Scandinavian]learned to recognize him [Lee: Odin] as being one of those Archangels who once upon a time reached the point of renouncing the ascent to higher stages. He learned to know Odin as one of the abnormal Archangels, as one of the great Renouncers of antiquity, who had assumed the office of an Archangel when undertaking the important mission of working into the souls of men. The Germanic Scandinavian experienced Odin in his activity at a time when he still went about the work of inoculating speech into the souls. The manner in which Odin himself worked upon his peoples in order to make speech possible to them has been preserved in a wonderful way ..."Steiner, R. (1910; GA0121). Lecture 8 link, of the series of lectures: The Mission of Folk-Souls.

"Although several things in the Germanic-Scandinavian mythology may appear curiously like the presentations of the Greek mythology, it must nevertheless be said that there is no other mythology on the earth which, in its remarkable construction and unique development, gives a more significant or a clearer picture of the evolution of the world than this Scandinavian mythology, so that this picture may be taken as a preparatory stage for the Anthroposophical picture of the evolution of the world." Steiner, R. (1910; GA0121). Lecture 7link, of the series of lectures: The Mission of Folk-Souls.

According to the Rudolf Steiner Archive, this little preface is in all Steiner"s books

"No person is qualified to form a judgment on the contents of this work, who has not acquired — through the School of Spiritual Science itself or in an equivalent manner recognized by the School of Spiritual Science — the requisite preliminary knowledge. Other opinions will be disregarded: the authors decline to take them as a basis for discussion." link

-He might have thought so, butsaying that really can't get him offthe hook for all his claims aboutthe real world that others canobserve.

/Lee

About Me

I have had a Waldorf-School education. I have lived many years at Camphill-communities (as staff-child and co-worker) and a number of more years of working at other anthroposophical institutions, which I currently do. I have studied psychology and biology at university and participated in a couple of study-groups of Steiner's books. One of my parents is a qualified Waldorf-teacher and much involved in the Christian Community (the anthroposophical church), which is also where I was baptised and confirmed.

Credits

It has taken me 10 years from turning down another study-group, on account of feeling that the teachings were detrimental to my mental health, to clearly see the fallacies and not being afraid of what my shift in stance would do for my chances after death and the fate of humankind. I am very thankful for the work done by people like Sven Ove Hansson,Richard Dawkins, Håkan Blomqvist, Peter Staudenmaier and various psychologists and sociologists that have helped me gain some perspective on his teachings (links are to examples of their works). I am also thankful to the people at the Rudolf Steiner Archives for making these books accessible to anyone who wants to make up their own minds about what Steiner said.

There may be more pages of quotes, click on "Older Posts" above to open next page.